Friday, June 12, 2009

Thursday in Review

It's that time of Summer again - berries galore. They seem to be a bit squattier this year, and not quite as plentiful, but I'm still experiencing the subtle panic of realization that they are growing faster than we can eat them.

The best solution? Freezer jam.(That fly wants in so badly. It's that time of year, too.)

There is nothing better than pulling a jar of this out of the freezer mid-February. If Summer were a flavor, it would be strawberry jam.

At least, that's what I tell myself while I'm mashing berries and ladling it into jars...

In other news, my two rose bushes are both in full bloom. Once again, something is chomping the leaves into oblivion, but the blooms are still positively swoony.

Who doesn't love a yellow rose?

Here's the thing about me: I'm no photographer. I know how to use roughly 2.5 functions on my not-too-fancy camera. I don't know the "rules" about flash, so I take some with and some without and pick the winner out of a hat. My husband shakes his head in my general direction. (Yes, I do occasionally feature his shots on my blog and I almost never give him credit. What's his is mine, right? Here's the best way to tell: If I'm in the picture, he took it.) What I know for sure is this: If you have a beautiful subject, it's pretty difficult to take an ugly picture. (Incidentally, I have a similar philosophy about food. Use fresh ingredients and learn how to pick a decent recipe - that's 90% of the battle.)

Back to my lack of photography skills, the above picture was taken last night, as the sun was setting. No flash.

Fast forward to this morning, when I found this:

Cory put the last coat of paint on some frames for our upstairs bathroom. (Hoping to have the big reveal sometime next week!) He must have plopped the frame right over the roses, which shed their petals overnight. I just thought it made for the loveliest scene. I snapped a few pics, no flash. This perfectly illustrates the difference between morning and evening light, not that any of you photography gurus needed me to illustrate such an elementary concept. Still, I can't get over that washed out, blurry-around-the-edges view. I think I'll keep it just as it is, until the last petal falls.

Now, click here to see how other people are living a beautiful life and here to see what other people are hooked on today.

I think your photos look great! (Um, the peony at the top!!) My semi-decent camera still boggles me. I've learned about the some other modes, which results in some slightly better pics, but they're still pretty crappy.

Speaking of catching falling petals. The other night R and I watched as the peonies shed completely infront of our eyes. (Yes, mine didn't last as long as yours.) The lighting is one thing I find I always love about your photos. Whatever your doing, keep on doing it.

If I were your neighbor, I would take ALL those extra strawberries off your hands. I am sweet like that!! ;)We made strawberry jam a month or so ago. The canning way and it is good!! It'll be a miracle if we have any left in January!!Elise

Strawberry jam is the best! It tastes like summer more than any other. The roses are beautiful. Don't you hate it when the bugs start to eat your garden? I'm fighting slugs but it just keeps raining and I think I can hear the slugs cheering.